Whether or not judicial deposit or sequestration can be resorted to without complying with the

requisites of consignation to effect payment of an obligation?

No, because on one hand, judicial deposit or sequestration under the Civil Code takes place when the
court orders for the attachment or seizure of a property in litigation; its purpose is to maintain the status
quo during the pendency of the litigation or to insure the rights of the parties to the property in case of a
favorable judgment. (Credit Transactions, De Leon)

On the other hand, consignation is the act of depositing the thing due with the court or judicial authorities
whenever the creditor cannot accept or refuses to accept payment and generally requires a prior tender
of payment. [Dalton v. Peralta; (G.R. No. 172577; January 19, 2011)]

Judicial deposit or sequestration is a means to secure ones rights over a property during the pendency of
the case, whereas consignation is a means to extinguish an obligation.

I. Consignation

General Rule

The following must be proven by the debtor for there to be a valid consignation:

(1) that there was a debt due;

(2) that the consignation of the obligation had been made because the creditor to whom
tender of payment was made refused to accept it, or because he was absent or
incapacitated, or because several persons claimed to be entitled to receive the amount
due (Art. 1176, Civil Code);

(3) that previous notice of the consignation had been given to the person interested in the
performance of the obligation (Art. 1177, Civil Code);
(4) that the amount due was placed at the disposal of the court (Art. 1178, Civil Code);
(5) that after the consignation had been made the person interested was notified thereof
(Art. 1178, Civil Code) [Soco v. Militante, (G.R. No. L-58961 June 28, 1983)]

Exceptions

Article 1256. If the creditor to whom tender of payment has been made refuses without just
cause to accept it, the debtor shall be released from responsibility by the consignation of the thing
or sum due.

Consignation alone shall produce the same effect in the following cases:

(1) When the creditor is absent or unknown, or does not appear at the place of payment;
(2) When he is incapacitated to receive the payment at the time it is due;
(3) When, without just cause, he refuses to give a receipt;
(4) When two or more persons claim the same right to collect;
(5) When the title of the obligation has been lost. (1176a)

II. Judicial Deposit or Sequestration

Nature and purpose of judicial deposit

Judicial deposit is auxiliary to a case pending in court.

Its purpose is to maintain the status quo during the pendency of the litigation or to insure the
rights of the parties to the property in case of a favorable judgment.
The law on judicial deposit is remedial or procedural in nature. Hence the Rules of Court are
applicable.

When judicial deposit takes place

Article 2005. A judicial deposit or sequestration takes place when an attachment or seizure of
property in litigation is ordered. (1785)

Objects of judicial deposit

Article 2006. Movable as well as immovable property may be the object of sequestration.
(1786)

Relevant laws on judicial deposit and the corresponding grounds for its application

Article 2009. As to matters not provided for in this Code, judicial sequestration shall be
governed by the Rules of Court. (1789a)

Rule 57, Rules of Court (Preliminary Attachment)

Section 1. Grounds upon which attachment may issue. At the commencement of
the action or at any time before entry of judgment, a plaintiff or any proper party may
have the property of the adverse party attached as security for the satisfaction of any
judgment that may be recovered in the following cases:
(a) In an action for the recovery of a specified amount of money or damages,
other than moral and exemplary, on a cause of action arising from law, contract,
quasi-contract, delict or quasi-delict against a party who is about to depart from
the Philippines with intent to defraud his creditors;
(b) In an action for money or property embezzled or fraudulently misapplied or
converted to his own use by a public officer, or an officer of a corporation, or an
attorney, factor, broker, agent, or clerk, in the course of his employment as such,
or by any other person in a fiduciary capacity, or for a willful violation of duty;
(c) In an action to recover the possession of property unjustly or fraudulently
taken, detained or converted, when the property, or any part thereof, has been
concealed, removed, or disposed of to prevent its being found or taken by the
applicant or an authorized person;
(d) In an action against a party who has been guilty of a fraud in contracting the
debt or incurring the obligation upon which the action is brought, or in the
performance thereof;
(e) In an action against a party who has removed or disposed of his property, or
is about to do so, with intent to defraud his creditors; or
(f) In an action against a party who does not reside and is not found in the
Philippines, or on whom summons may be served by publication. (1a)

Rule 59, Rules of Court (Receivership)

Section 1. Appointment of receiver. Upon a verified application, one or more
receivers of the property subject of the action or proceeding may be appointed by the
court where the action is pending or by the Court of Appeals or by the Supreme Court, or
a member thereof, in the following cases:
(a) When it appears from the verified application, and such other proof as the
court may require, that the party applying for the appointment of a receiver has
an interest in the property or fund which is the subject of the action or
proceeding, and that such property or fund is in danger of being lost, removed, or
materially injured unless a receiver be appointed to administer and preserve it;

(b) When it appears in an action by the mortgagee for the foreclosure of a

mortgage that the property is in danger of being wasted or dissipated or
materially injured, and that its value is probably insufficient to discharge the
mortgage debt, or that the parties have so stipulated in the contract of mortgage;
(c) After judgment, to preserve the property during the pendency of an appeal, or
to dispose of it according to the judgment, or to aid execution when the execution
has been returned unsatisfied or the judgment obligor refuses to apply his
property in satisfaction of the judgment, or otherwise to carry the judgment into
effect.
(d) Whenever in other cases it appears that the appointment of a receiver is the
most convenient and feasible means of preserving, administering, or disposing of
the property in litigation.

Rule 60, Rules of Court (Replevin)

Section 1. Application. A party praying for the recovery of possession of personal
property may, at the commencement of the action or at any time before answer, apply for
an order for the delivery of such property to him, in the manner hereinafter provided. (1a)
Section 2. Affidavit and bond. The applicant must show by his own affidavit or that of
some other person who personally knows the facts:
(a) That the applicant is the owner of the property claimed, particularly describing
it, or is entitled to the possession thereof;
(b) That the property is wrongfully detained by the adverse party, alleging the
cause of detention thereof according to the best of his knowledge, information,
and belief ;
(c) That the property has not been distrained or taken for a tax assessment or a
fine pursuant to law, or seized under a writ of execution or preliminary
attachment, or otherwise placed under custodia legis, or if so seized, that it is
exempt from such seizure or custody; and
(d) The actual market value of the property.

Rule 127, Rules of Court (Attachment of property of accused in criminal cases)

Section 2. Attachment. When the civil action is properly instituted in the criminal
action as provided in Rule 111, the offended party may have the property of the accused
attached as security for the satisfaction of any judgment that may be recovered from the
accused in the following cases:
(a) When the accused is about to abscond from the Philippines;
(b) When the criminal action is based on a claim for money or property
embezzled or fraudulently misapplied or converted to the use of the accused who
is a public officer, officer of a corporation, attorney, factor, broker, agent, or clerk,
in the course of his employment as such, or by any other person in a fiduciary
capacity, or for a willful violation of duty;
(c) When the accused has concealed, removed, or disposed of his property, or is
about to do so; and

(d) When the accused resides outside the Philippines. (2a)